Shenley Primary School says it has come to an agreement that pupils can continue to use the whole of the school field for the time being.

An urgent two hour meeting took place on Monday, just a couple of days after a protest took place at the school.

School governors and parents were demonstrating after learning a part of the school's field had been sold to neighbours, which included the chairman of Shenley Parish Council.

The meeting held on Monday afternoon, which took place at the school, involved parish council chairman Cllr William Susman and his wife, Cllr Natalie Susman, the head teacher at the school, Kate Fiddler, the chair and vice-chair of governors, Jamie Stockwell and Glyn Dredge, the school's office and site manager, officers from Hertfordshire County Council, and Shenley county councillor Morris Bright, who is also leader of Hertsmere Borough Council.

Following the meeting, the school released a statement outlining the next steps.

The statement, which was signed by the school's governing body, said: "On Monday afternoon, we held an urgent meeting at the school. The meeting lasted almost two hours and was very productive.

"We can confirm that, moving forward, we will continue to work together towards a resolution that suits the school, Hertfordshire County Council and the new landowners.

"We are sure you will appreciate that such a resolution will not happen overnight, but future discussions have been agreed and we will keep everyone updated as to any news and progress.

"In the meantime whilst negotiations are on-going, the landowners have agreed that that we can continue to use the land."

Borehamwood Times:

Parents and schoolchildren protested last Saturday by the school field

The private land in question had been leased by the the county council for primary school use since 1999, but the lease came to an end in 2019.

The county council has said it made an offer to secure the freehold of the land, which is currently used by the school as an outdoor learning space, in June last year, but the offer was rejected.

The council says it made a final offer in January this year, but learnt the following month that the land had been sold to Cllr Susman and Nikolai Levey whose homes back onto the school field.

Correspondence released by Cllr Susman on Facebook on Sunday shows he was offered the chance to buy the land in July 2019.

After the land was sold, Cllr Susman says 50 per cent of it was offered back to the county council on a lease free of charge, but correspondence shows the council was only interested in all of the land.

Borehamwood Times:

Cllr Susman speaks with demonstrators at the school on Saturday. Credit: Simon Jacobs

Borehamwood Times:

It appears negotiations between the new landowners and the council got nowhere, so the new owners pressed ahead with plans to construct a fence on the field - which led to protests at the school.

Cllr Susman was in the firing line at Saturday's protest and there has been plenty of discussion on Facebook too.

The school added in their statement: "Whilst we fully appreciate and are overwhelmed by the level of support that the school has been shown, and whilst we understand frustrations regarding this matter, the content of some of the social media posts aimed towards Mr and Mrs Susman and their respective businesses, and Mr and Mrs Levey, are wholly unacceptable, and as a school, we must urge those who have written such material to desist from posting any more abusive, offensive and degrading content.

"The school does not condone the actions or words of some individuals towards the landowners Mr and Mrs Levey, Mr and Mrs Susman, or their independent contractors."